A new Lincoln could soon become the city driver’s dream car – thanks to a device that ends parallel-parking nightmares with the push of a button.

The Lincoln MKS sedan has an Active Park Assist feature that automatically parallel-parks it in urban traffic. The system is expected to be available in all new Lincolns in about six months, though no price for the add-on feature has been set yet.

The car uses two ultrasonic side sensors to gauge the distance and angles of neighboring objects.

By pressing a button marked “P” near the gear shift, a display screen under the dashboard turns on and the car starts looking for a parking space big enough to fit in.

The driver has to cruise slowly – about 18 mph in a test drive last week, which attracted a lot of unwanted responses from city cabbies.

When a spot is found, there’s a jarring beep and a voice says, “Parking spot found.”

After you hit the brakes, the car dings again and says, “Back up with caution.” The car lets you go in reverse at up to 6 mph.

Suddenly, the steering wheel moves on its own and aligns the car perfectly in the spot, while you work only the gas and the brakes. It took four moves – the car will do up to 10 to get the car perfectly in place.

A rearview camera sends an image to the display screen. Another alert sounds if you’ve backed up too close to a car.

The car was parked a perfect six inches from the curb in the test drive.

The system doesn’t recognize hydrants, so for that you’re on your own.

Ninety percent of the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury lineup will feature Active Park Assist by 2012. The system is also environmentally friendly, as its electric power steering improves fuel economy 5 percent.

Lexus currently offers a similar self-parking feature for an additional $3,000.

Ford Motor Co., which owns Lincoln, has not announced the prices for the two easy-park models – the Lincoln MKS sedan and MKT seven-seater – which will debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The 2009 models start at $39,555.